Evaluations....

We had an appointment with the local school district for a speech/language evaluation for Sharlene. I was a little nervous going into it not for Sharlene but for myself. I haven't set foot inside a school since I hopped into my 1979 Ford Granada that needed a stick in the choke to keep it going up that hill to where the little brown building sat waiting for hundreds of hormone-filled teenagers to attend. I guess that isn't true. I did attend college but I don't put that in the same category. Why was I nervous? Because I homeschool...that's why.

I know, I know. I am legally allowed to homeschool and I shouldn't feel nervous. But I do. You hear all about people calling in the troops on some crazy homeschooling family that has apparently been abusing their children and nobody found out about it. I won't even go into those crazy public school families who have also been able to keep abuse under the table but that's for another post. I don't abuse my children. They are well cared for and loved to pieces. No, they are not in pieces but they know we are here for them. However, I do yell. Sometimes, more than I should....and that's when I know I need a venti.

As I sat there waiting for the lady that was to do the evaluation, I thought maybe I should come up with a creative answer if she started questioning me about where my own children attended school or some other question that needed to be answered. I decided to pray that God would give me wisdom if that should happen. What did happen instead was that we met a really nice lady that didn't over-intrude into our lives but focused on Sharlene's issues.

After her evaluation, she informed me that she needed to go over her notes and would get back to me on what would best meet Sharlene's needs but she did say that Sharlene was pretty severely in need of help and that the once a week speech therapy would not adequately supply that. What she did need was the five day a week class that the bus would come and pick up Sharlene for. She also recommended I take her to a neurologists because she also saw some things that were indicative of other problems.

I decided to ask her about Barbara. I've been concerned about her because she swallows her food whole. I've been observing how she eats and from what I can tell she uses her tongue instead of her teeth to mash up the food or she plain just gulps it down in it's whole format. She also has stuck her hand in the flame on my stove and didn't cry, dropped a wooden puzzle on her foot and again, didn't cry, and some other behavior issues that are much like robotic responses instead of something she might be really feeling. We've had a doctor, the therapist and now the speech pathologist tell me that I needed to get both girls in.

Have you ever had one of those moments when out of the blue, you break down and cry. I hate it when that happens. It comes too quickly to be stopped and there you are...open and vulnerable before a person you don't even know. It happened at this very appointment. Ugghh! As I sat there trying to explain briefly the situation, the lady was very encouraging and said some very nice things to me which made me feel better....even as far as to say I was a saint for taking on this. I wouldn't say that about me AT ALL. I'm just an ordinary person trying to do what God has called me to do for today. But I did appreciate her words.

So we made the neurologist appointment. The soonest we can get in is the end of this month. Sigh. I hate waiting. I want answers and I don't like to wait for them. All in God's timing, right?